At colleges and universities, students are always extracting information from textbooks, outlines, periodicals, etc. that may be useful in their course of study. Many years ago students who were studying material had to underline any textual material that they considered pertinent to their studies. The problem with underlining was that the subject matter of interest really did not stand out from the un-underlined text. Most often, students will highlight a particular portion of text that they feel is important. Traditional highlighting of the text can be accomplished in a number of ways. A student may write a small summary of what they have read next to the portion of the text in which it is located. Alternatively, a symbol, such as an asterisk or star, may denote meaningful content. Also, students may underline portions of the text with a colored pen or pencil. In the above-mentioned ways, a student can highlight portions of the text he or she is reading.
More recently, students have employed highlighting tools. These tools are typically a sealed container with a tip, usually of felt or other porous material. An ink is present in the container and is usually a translucent ink that permits the underlying text to be viewed by the student. In operation the ink is usually wicked from the container through the porous tip. Probably the most commonly known and used alternative to a pen or pencil use, is the use of a bright colored translucent marker. Many markers today use fluorescent ink. The translucent ink marker allows the student to highlight a particular piece of text by writing directly over it. For example, a student can place the marker at one end of the page and trace a line completely to the other side of the page. The marker will deposit, for example, a fluorescent color on the page. The fluorescent color, such as yellow, will be transparent enough so that the student may read the text beneath it. Thus, fluorescent markers typically utilize light colors, such as yellow, light blue, and light pink. Additionally, the fluorescent nature of the marker allows the student to quickly locate the important portions of the text for research or quick reference purposes.
The face of the commonly used marker is most frequently angled for ease of application. The face of the tip is fairly small, typically only high enough to highlight a single line of text, which is sized at standard 12-point font. The width of the face is less than the height. Thus, the student can highlight as little as one word or as much as an entire line of text without lifting the marker off the page. However, if the student desires to highlight an entire paragraph, or an entire page of text, the student must trace over each line of text in a back and forth stroke until the entire page has had ink applied thereto. In the case of long paragraphs, or legal-sized pages, highlighting can become a tedious and time-consuming task.
Additionally, the high lighter""s ink deposited on the page by the marker is wet, and does not dry instantaneously. As a result, the repeated back and forth motion of the mark over a large passage can cause the paper to rip or become distorted. Tracing over lines of an entire paragraph will become more time-consuming if the student must wait for each line to dry before going onto the next line. For example, a right-handed student will normally use the fluorescent marker in a left-to-right manner over the line of text. Thus, if a student does not wish to smear the fluorescent ink or get the ink on his or her hand, he or she must wait for the ink to dry. This waiting time can make the highlighting task more time-consuming.
Thus, there is a need, especially for students, to be able to highlight large amounts of text without having to wait for the fluorescent ink to dry. Filling this need will greatly reduce the time required to complete highlighting of a number of texts in which paragraphs and/or pages of text must be highlighted. There is also a need to reduce the risk of tears and distortion due to the motion of the highlighter back and forth over the page
It is an object of the present invention to provide a highlighting means which is capable of highlighting a single word of text up to an entire page of text in a single motion.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a highlighting means that will drastically reduce the time it takes to highlight by eliminating the waiting time it takes for the translucent ink in a highlighter to dry.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a highlighting means that will allow a user to highlight a large portion of text without lifting the highlighting means off of the paper.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a highlighting means that will allow a user to highlight a large portion of text in a single horizontal or vertical motion.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a highlighter that reduces the need for a large number of back and forth motions to highlight large amounts of text.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a highlighter where the width of the top surface of the tip of the highlighter is significantly greater than the length of the top surface of the tip.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a highlighter where the applicator surface of the tip is generally rectangular and the ratio of the width of the tip to the length of the tip is at least 3:1.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a highlighter where the applicator surface has a width that is as wide as a column of text in a work so that a single line can be highlighted by a single application of the felt tip of the highlighter to a surface of the work.
Another further object of the invention is to provide an applicator tip that is removably attached to the base so that felt tips of varying lengths can be selected for a given application.
The present invention is directed toward an improved highlighting means which will allow the user to highlight a large portion of text in a horizontal or vertical motion, while reducing the need to wait an extended period of time for the highlighter""s ink to dry. The present invention is also directed to an improved highlighting means that reduces the need for back and forth motion across the page where large amounts of text must be highlighted.
The highlighting means of the present invention is composed of a body and a cap. The body is generally cylindrical although any shape is possible. The upper portion of the body has a tip over which the cap is placed. The cap is preferably adapted to be removably attached to the lower or end portion of the body, or the base when not in use. The body is a reservoir for the ink that is used. Although any type of suitable ink is possible to use in the instrument, the preferred ink is a translucent ink that permits the viewer to read the text when the ink is applied to a surface having the text thereon. The highlighting means has an applicator tip for applying the ink to the desired surface. The applicator tip of the highlighter is typically a porous material that permits the ink to flow from the reservoir to the applicator surface. The tip extends above the body of the device.
In a first embodiment, the body of the highlighting means is disposed in a vertical manner. The cap has an upper surface and two side surfaces. On the bottom surface of the cap is a receiving means which will allow the top of the highlighter cartridge to fit within it. The base of the highlighting means has a lower surface and two side surfaces. When the cap is connected to the base, the sides of the cap will be continuous with the sides of the base. The base is primarily used to house the highlighter cartridge. In addition, the user will hold the base when using the highlighting means to highlight text. The highlighter cartridge will be shaped to fit fully within the base, while leaving the top portion of the highlighter cartridge exposed. The top portion of the highlighter cartridge should preferably have a diagonal face that will engage the page of the text being highlighted. The diagonal orientation will allow the user to drag the highlighter over the page of text depositing the highlighter ink.
In another embodiment, the body of the highlighting means is horizontally disposed. The main difference between the vertical and horizontal disposition, is that the top portion of the highlighter cartridge will be wider in the horizontal disposition. Thus, a wider top portion will allow the user to highlight more text on a single stroke of the highlighting means across the page.
In each embodiment, the body of the highlighting means may employ a hook or clip which will allow the user to attach the highlighting means to a necklace or belt, respectively.